Developers Offer Another Look At Tysons Corner

With the one-year anniversary of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan approaching, residents had another chance to look at proposed projects for the new Tysons Corner on Wednesday at an open house designed to inform residents about the future urban downtown.

Nine applications –by the Georgelas Group, CARS, JBG Rosenfeld Retail, NV Commercial/Clyde’s, SAIC/Dittmar, Capital One, MITRE, Cityline Partners and LCOR – were displayed at Spring Hill Elementary School in McLean, detailing mixed-use residential, business and commercial projects in Tysons.

Five of them –  a Cityline proposal for a 340,000 square foot office building on the east side of Colshire Drive; a 28-acre, three neighborhood plan near Spring Hill Road and Greensboro Drive by the Georglas Group, LLC; a 5 million square foot proposal of mixed office, hotel, retail and residential space at the existing Capital One campus at Westgate Industrial Park; a plan that would increase parking and add 1.4 million square feet of office development on Mitre Corp's existing campus; and Campus Point Realty Corp's 23.7-acre, six-block plan for residential, retail, office and hotel use – are being reviewed by the county.

Some of the same questions that arose when the plan was first passed remain, including when construction will begin on approved applications and Stakeholder and community outreach will continue through the end of 2011, but the Board of Supervisors won't approve proposed urban design guidelines until at least early 2012.

At the moment, residents are most widely represented on the Tysons Partnership, a non-profit organization formed in March to serve as an advisory group for changes to the environment, transportation, civic amenities and other development areas in Tysons.

The group has four voting "cones": employers and employees; landlords  and developers; retailers and hospitality and resident organizations. Two other groups – relevant topic consultants and neighborhood organizations within a mile radius of Tysons – will be represented, but won't have voting rights.

The Partnership is still searching for representation from resident organizations inside of central Tysons to serve as board members, an effort that Keith Turner, the group's chairman, calls unsuccessful thus far.

"Their input would be vital moving forward considering they already live here,” said Turner, who also works for Cityline.

Vienna Mayor Jane Seeman and Robert Jackson, president of the Mclean Citizens Organization, were recently added as members of the board.

“Knowledge is power,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova said. “The more you know about what’s going on around you, the more you have an opportunity to weigh in.”

The crowd of about 100 had the chance to ask questions of developers and comment on their plans to reshape the area.

“The plans for central Tysons itself look great,” said McLean's Wade Smith, a bike enthusiast and member of the Tysons Land Use Task Force, a group that was asked to update Tysons' land use plan between 2005 and 2008.  “But one of the problems I have is actually getting to Tysons, especially from McLean. I know bikers who ride down 123 to get here. I would never do that.”

The Tysons Bicycle Master Plan was among the plans on display Wednesday. Fairfax County Park Authority representatives also provided displays of parks and recreational facilities they hope to see implemented.

“All of the stakeholders and members of the community, land owners, the commercial neighbors in the area, county staff, all of us have been working together," Bulova said. "It's been a collaboration and it needs to continue to be a collaboration in order for things to be realized in the way that we’re all very excited about.”

Residents can view all Tysons developments on the county website.